This guy's mask is the one I own the most of for... reasons that are only funny to me and my brother. But I have about 40 of them.

Nuh way is this what I riid first today.

55 Bionicle sets in the year. I know we get a lot of City sets each year, but that seems like quite a high number for the time.

One more Metru Matoran to go before we complete the collection! Just need 8609 Tehutti.

@Miyakan said:
"55 Bionicle sets in the year. I know we get a lot of City sets each year, but that seems like quite a high number for the time."

So it turns out half of those are just collections of other sets. The number of unique sets is 27.

@Miyakan said:
"55 Bionicle sets in the year. I know we get a lot of City sets each year, but that seems like quite a high number for the time."

27 of which are "Product Collection" sets, and a few others are promo sets that are virtually just copies of other sets. The real amount of Bionicle sets in 2004 is more like 26:

6 Toa (Vakama, Nokama, Whenua, Onewa, Matau, Nuju)
6 Matoran (Nuhrii, Vhisola, Tehutti, Ahkmou, Orkahm, Ehrye)
6 Vahki (Nuurakh, Bordakh, Vordakh, Zadakh, Rorzakh, Keerakh)
4 Titans/Warriors (Krekka, Nidhiki, Dume & Nivawk, Lhikan & Kikanalo)
4 Other (Kanoka Disc Blindbox Pack, Kraatu, Promo Disc Polybag, Accessory Bulk Bucket)

Wow, Nuhrii here was the first 2004 BIONICLE set I got back late December 2003! I was intensely curiously about the new direction the BIONICLE storyline was taking based on Turaga Vakama's ominous proclamation to the Toa Nuva that they were "not the first Toa!" I was definitely taken aback a bit by the color changes introduced here so prominently. Gone was the bright red and dark gray of the previous 3 years of BIONICLE. The new dark red and dark blue-gray was....ehhh, it took some time to get used to it!

Sadly, Nuhrii here suffers mightily (as well the rest of the Metru Nui Matoran, or "Metruan") from over-promising CGI box art. The new limb joints are fixed at right angles, and the head (dark blue gray Toa heads) is on an axle, so Nuhrii can't make anything close to this heroic pose. Also, as imposing and cool as that body piece looks, it is very flat and the backside exposes all the ball socket connectors and bright blue pins. You can hang his Kanoka launcher on the back thanks to a 3L Technic pin, but that pin is in the dead center of the torso, and the launcher's connection holes are offset. So the launcher is always in the way of one set of limbs.

Doubtlessly, the most interesting parts are the recolored, part-silver Kanohi Ruru and the disk laucher. The Kanoka disk concept was basically giving the old Throwbot disk collecting aspect from 1999 a new spin, and I ate it up, buying tons of those Kanoka packs trying to find the Great Disks (six for each Metru, power level of 9). But I digress. Nuhrii came a random Kanoka disk, and it was fun to shoot it with the launcher. This was the start of a regular feature of BIONICLE sets, with each successive year introducing a new type of projectile launcher.

So what's Nuhrii's deal? He was a mask maker in Metru Nui's neighborhood of Ta-Metru. He always came up second-best to Vakama, and that jealously grew. Eventually, he came across the location of a Great Disk. By that point, Vakama had become a Toa. Five other Matoran discovered the locations of other Great Disks. The new Toa, including Vakama, needed the Great Disks to stop the rampaging Morbuzahk plant that was destroying the city. And the other five Matoran, like Nuhrii, had reason to resent their former Matoran colleagues. One was even actively planning to betray the Toa Metru! Was it Nuhrii??

Spoiler alert. It was not. His relevance to the story pretty much ends there.

In the far north of the Matoran Universe lay Metru Nui, the Great City. Among its many locals was Ta-Metru, a series of grand forges and foundries. Ta-Metru's craftsmen carved the finest Kanohi Masks in the Universe, gaining international fame.

Among these Mask Makers was Nuhrii. During his time in Ta-Metru, Nuhrii discovered the location of one of the city's six legendary Great Disks, but he lacked the skills to retrieve it. Eventually he would go on to be the mentor of the young protégé Vakama.

Vakama's skill with Mask Making quickly grew, and he soon became the district's most accolated star. Eventually this drew the attention of Maktua Teridax, in disguise as the city's elder Dume, who tasked Vakama with the seemingly impossible job of crafting The Legendary Mask of Time. As Vakama's public admiration grew, jealousy was forged in his teacher's heart.

Around this time, Makuta advanced his plans to take over Metru Nui. He unleashed a great sentient plant known as the Morbuzakh, to terrorize the city. Six Matoran were transformed into Toa heroes to fight the beast, including Vakama himself. Shortly after becoming a Toa, Vakama received visions of the six Great Disks. He learned that combined they had the power to slay the Morbuzakh, and he learned names of six Matoran who knew their locations.

Meanwhile, Nuhrii's bitterness over Vakama's accolades reached a tipping point. He was lured into a trap by someone who convinced him he could use the Great Disk of Ta-Metru to craft even greater masks. A building was collapsed on Nuhrii, but Vakama arrived just in time to save his teacher's life from the rubble.

Nuhrii agreed to help Vakama search for the Great Disk, wedged in the walls of a giant Fire Pit that would belch searing flame. Once all the Disks were collected, the Toa went to face the Morbuzahk. The six Matoran who found the disks helped in the fight, merging their minds and bodies into a powerful Matoran Nui, clearing a path for the Toa to reach the plant's King Root. The Toa successfully slew the Morbuzahk.

In the coming weeks, Nuhrii, alongside all of Metru Nui's population, were lured into Matoran Pods by the False Dume. This pod wiped Nuhrii's memories, with Makuta hoping to awaken the Matoran and feed them lies to keep them as slaves. The Toa Metru managed to recover these pods and took them to the Island of Mata Nui above, where they sacrificed their Toa Power to become Turaga elders and awaken the Matoran.

Nuhrii would go on to live in the volcanic village of Ta-Koro as a member of the guard. At some point his red Ruru mask was shattered and replaced with a black Kaukau. After Makuta's temporary defeat at the hands of Takanuva, Nuhrii returned to Metru Nui. After Makuta's death at Journey End, he evacuated the decimated Matoran Universe to live on Spherus Magna

One time I edited a picture of this guy into an apocalyptic city and gave him a cool speech balloon.

“Evil is bad, kids. So r you.”

Recently I got one from a bulk lot to put for sale. The masks of these matoran look pretty!

@Atuin an argument can be made that the Ultimate Dume set can be counted as a titan. It's a combiner but it did come with three extra pieces including an exclusive mask. It also came in an original full box, not packaging around packaging.

@Lego_Lord_Mayorca from what I've seen the numbers are not random when they come with standard sets. At least, that's what Bricklink tells me anyway. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, as I haven't kept my sets from the era and only recently re-acquired second hand ones.

@GSR_MataNui no mention of the elaborate conspiracy in which your namesake rearranged the stars to convince Makuta that Nuhrii and his five fellows were the destined Toa Metru? At which point he subtly suggested the names of the actual chosen ones, whose names Makuta then passed along to Lhikan? Not to mention all the evidence planted by various parties to convince Makuta, and anyone else, of the falsehood? Or the illusion Makuta trapped Vakama in of an alternate reality where the Great Kanoka Matoran actually became Toa?

It’s kind of a shame Lego decided to make Kanoka discs the new collectible in 2004. It would have been nice to get the Toa Metru masks in other colors. Slap a red Great Ruru on Metru Vakama and boom! Metru Nuhrii.

@Brickalili:
Well, they kinda went overboard with 252 regular Kraata, plus seven more special variants. However, they didn’t completely give up on the idea. There are CMFs, Unikitty packs, Mario packs, and even Friends has randomized pets in some sets.